Pub game night ideas that aren't a quiz

By Martin Nymann (AddonNordic ApS), who made Deadline Day with his son Viktor. Updated 17 October 2026.

On this page: What works · A live auction night · Seven more ideas · Which idea fits · How to run it · What it costs · Questions

What makes a pub game night work when it isn't a quiz?

The best nights give tables something to decide, not just something to remember. A quiz rewards the one table that knows everything. A game built on bidding, bluffing or voting keeps every table in it until the end, and it brings in the friends who never come to quiz night.

Before you pick a format, check it against these four things:

• Tables play as teams. Groups sit together, argue over every choice and stay for the whole game.
• Nobody on your staff has to host it. A busy bar cannot spare someone to read questions for an hour.
• It works with the sound off. A loud room needs the game on the screen, in big type.
• It has a name you can write on the board. "Tuesday: Football Auction Night" is a reason to come in.

Idea 1: a live sports auction on the big screen

This is the game we built Deadline Day for. Every table is one team with 100M of pretend money. Players come up one by one on the pub screen, tables bid from their own phones, and every bid restarts the clock. When the squads are full, the game plays the match, and the strongest squad wins.

It suits a pub because the screen does the work. Someone presses start on a phone, the big screen shows a QR code, and each table scans it and names its team. The screen draws the players, runs the countdown and shouts "SOLD!". Football is the obvious night, but basketball, ice hockey, handball, cricket, racing and esports work the same way, and music and video auctions cover the nights that are not about sport.

A quick draft takes 5 to 10 minutes and fits at half-time on a match day. A full auction with the match takes 30 to 45 minutes and fills an evening. See how it runs in a bar on the pub game night page.

Seven more pub game night ideas that aren't a quiz

Not every night has to be the same game. These classics need little or no tech, and several of them sit well next to an auction:

1. Imposter between rounds. Everyone at a table gets the same word or player except one bluffer. Say one word each, then vote. Groups of 3 or more can play the Imposter game on their phones.
2. Music bingo. Play song clips instead of calling numbers, and tables mark the titles on a card. It needs a playlist and printed cards.
3. Darts or pool league. A weekly table that regulars play over a season. It needs a board or a table and a chalkboard for the standings.
4. Karaoke or open mic. Loud, social and easy to run with a microphone, a screen and one brave first singer.
5. Board game night. Put a shelf of games behind the bar and let tables borrow them. Quiet nights suit it best.
6. Score predictions on a match day. Tables write down the score before kick-off, and the closest guess wins a round of crisps. Keep it free to enter.
7. A music or movie auction. Tables bid on songs or movie trailers while they play on the big screen, and the most views in total wins. Try Hits or Trailers.

Which idea fits your pub?

How do you run a game night on your pub screen?

1. Open the big screen. Go to deadlineday.app/tv on the pub TV. A big QR code appears.
2. Tables join. Each table scans the code and names its team. Everyone at the table bids from their own phone.
3. Press start. Pick a quick draft or a full auction, and the screen runs the rest.
4. Crown the winner. The match plays on the screen, and the winning table is on the board for next week.

Write the night on the board outside a week ahead, and run it on the same weekday every time. A fixed night is easier to remember than a one-off.

What does it cost?

Details and the free first night are on the pub page.

Questions

This text was generated with artificial intelligence (Geoa Content Studio) and edited for Deadline Day. EU AI Act, art. 50.